November 2018 – Stockton SOUP #14
Cross Rhythms Teesside
The first project of the night was Cross Rhythms Teesside! CRT is a non-profit, community radio station (107.1 FM) that is focused on sharing faith, hope, and love through radio and media. They want to share a message of love to those in Teesside and believe that it has the power to transform the hearts and lives of their listeners.
They pitched for some new, much needed equipment. Not only do they hope to update their equipment, but they were also very keen to get more local people involved on their radio station.
Cross Rhythms Teesside received 15% of the vote and walked away with £98.07 of funding.
Community Bridges
A budding project with the vision and hope to set up a drop-in at the Parkfield Community Centre for people of all backgrounds, especially asylum seekers, to receive much-needed support, community, and connections.
They’ve aptly chosen ‘bridges’ as part of their name because they represent a link between people and places, and Community Bridges’ aim is to help refugees integrate into English society by providing English classes and a safe space they can rely on for support.
Their funds from the evening will go to paying for English tutors, redecorating the building, and their community garden.
They received 17% of the vote and went home with £114.42 of funding.
Building Blox
Are a support service set up by parent/cares of children with additional needs FOR parents and carers of children with additional needs (no diagnosis required
They are based in the heart of their community at the Newtown Resource Centre. They have a positive and empowering ethos with a focus on giving parents the tools and encouragement they need to not just survive but thrive as they look after their child with additional needs.
One way they want to do this is by starting a lending library and quiet space as an extra resource where parents can educate themselves about their child’s needs. It can offer much-needed understanding, relief, and support as they realise that they are not in this alone.
They received 36% of the vote and received £237.01 funds to start their library.
Melting Pot
Melting Pot is a support service for Asylum Seekers who have lost everything trying to settle here in England. By meeting the physical needs of these asylum seekers they are seeking to provide much-needed hope to those who are facing the worst that life has to offer.
Not only does Melting Pot collect basic food items to give out weekly to unsupported asylum seekers, but every Christmas they look to collect extra toiletries and food to give out. At Soup, they were hoping to receive the funds to go that extra bit further this Christmas, so that they can give even more to those who have nothing.
They received 32% of the vote and got £212.49 funding toward their Christmas collection.
September 2018 – Stockton SOUP #13
Teesside Link Dementia Services
TDLS aim to alleviate the isolation and loneliness in carers and people with dementia in the Stockton area. They do this with dementia cafes, offering befriending schemes, a contact telephone line, and engagement opportunities.
They were pitching to introduce a ‘come and chat’ card to help create another engagement point for people.
They received 30% vote and £205.14
Plus – meet the amazing Reece, their youngest volunteer, who took part in a 4k a few weeks ago and raised over £300. What an inspiration.
Cultivate Tees Valley
Cultivate Tees Valley aims to reduce food insecurity by transforming unused urban and rural land into spaces where food is grown. They aim to combat isolation and improve mental health by connecting people through food growing. They will also offer an accredited program for those who volunteer with them, therefore increasing confidence and employment opportunities.
The money on the night will be used to help transform a plot by the Elmwood community centre using an aquaponic growing system.
They received 36% and £249.09
Iranian Community North East
They provide support and information for the Persian community, asylum seekers and refugees from all nations living in Stockton helping reduce barriers and improving social integration.
They are specifically seeking money to run driving courses to help build confidence, independence and more access to work opportunities.
They received 18% of the vote, £124.55
Stockton Hope
Working in the community on the Hardwick estate. Projects include a Kids club, a mental health support group, baby and toddler group, and a food bank is available to help those experiencing hardship.
The money is going towards putting on a Christmas party with a silent disco for families on the estate, providing an affordable and safe Christmas treat that the community can enjoy.
They received 17% of the vote, £117.22
July 2018 – Stockton SOUP #12
Hidden Talents
Hidden Talents are seeking to bring together two socially isolated communities, lonely older people and refugees or those seeking asylum, through dance, cultural arts, singing crafts and music.
In doing so, they hope to improve the quality of life, increase community cohesion, and reduce social isolation. The money will be used to hire a venue for the project.
Hidden Talents received 26% of the vote, £293.74
Red Balloons
Through Red Balloons, Claire wants to be a champion for Stockton helping improve our mental health with positive physical health. Through personal experiences of depression and anxiety, she has witnessed first hand the transformative power of physical exercise, personal goal setting and education in tackling mental health illnesses.
Claire is committed to supporting and facilitating others on their journeys as well. The money is going towards organising a community rounders tournament in the summer.
Red Balloons received 14% of the vote, £159.46
Cycling Without Age
Cycling Without Age’s aim to get older and disabled people out and into their communities. They’ll do this by taking people for a ride on a Trishaw bike, a three-wheeled cycle with seats up front for two passengers. This simple act allows passengers to reconnect with the community in which they live, have fun, and share their stories with the trishaw pilot and their fellow passenger, who could be their caregiver, a professional carer or family member.
Money raised at Stockton SOUP will go towards the £5,000 needed to fund the purchase of their Trishaw.
Cycling without Age received 33% of the vote, £377.67
The Reach Project
The Reach Project wants to put on a photographic exhibition to allow people with disabilities to tell and share their own stories, aspirations, achievements in life, and experiences of living in Stockton.
The Reach Project wants to reshape and open wider the social conversation around disability in our community highlighting the positive, challenge assumptions and help people with disabilities be viewed in a different light. The money will go towards equipment and the hire of a venue.
The Reach Project received 27% of the vote, £310.53
May 2018 – Stockton SOUP #11
1st Project – Stockton Sea Cadets
Stockton Sea Cadets are committed to helping children and young people become respectable responsible young adults in the community
Sea Cadets are currently open on a Monday and Thursday evening but cadets enjoy it soo much they want to spend their weekends there too!! As a result of this Sea Cadets wish to provide weekend overnight training for sea cadets aged between 10-18 yrs old. They have the facilities, the volunteer trainers and keen cadets but they need funds to purchase camp beds. . By providing better facilities cadets can learn in a safe comfortable environment, gain valuable qualifications, have fun and shape their future in Stockton-on-Tees.
Sea cadets received 13% of the vote and walked away with £154.09
2nd Project – Vision 25
Well Matthew said it best ‘Vision 25 have helped me become more independent’.
Vision 25 offer a programme of activities that are fun, interesting and motivational for young people with learning difficulties aged 19 and over. Set up by special needs teachers who saw a real lack in provision for young adults with learning difficulties, everybody at Vision 25 is passionate about helping them realise their potential, build self-worth and take significant steps towards having more independence.
The money raised at SOUP is being used to buy communication aids.
Vision 25 received 33% of the vote and walked away with £373.06
3rd Project – One More Life
Stockton has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. One More Life is committed to changing that.
Suicide is preventable with the right kind of support, interventions and raised awareness. Firstly One More Life wants to break the stigma of talking about mental illness by delivering awareness workshops and training to local colleges, schools, prisons, universities, and workplaces. Secondly, One More Life seeks to implement a program that draws upon the transformative power of physical exercise, mindfulness and gratitude. They are looking to set up different exercise groups to help improve people’s mental and physical well-being.
One More Life received 28% of the vote and walked away with £324.40
facebook.com/onemorelifestockton | instagram.com/onemorelifestockton | twitter.com/onemorelifestoc
4th Project – Refugee Week Celebration
An opportunity to acknowledge our different pasts, and celebrate our shared future. Refugee Week (18th-24th June 2018) is the UK’s largest festival celebrating the contribution of refugees and promoting understanding of why people seek sanctuary.
Over the years, as a community, we have given refuge and a warm Stockton welcome to people seeking asylum due to fleeing persecution (political or religious), wars and natural disasters from all over the world. This week is a time to celebrate how our community has come together to welcome, befriend and support them. This week is a chance to share and learn about the rich and diverse culture of sanctuary seekers. This week is also, as Beauty shared at Wednesday’s SOUP, a chance for her and others to say thank you to the town they love. Stockton is now their home, a place where they feel loved, accepted and belonging and they want to invite us all to celebrate together.
Refugee Week Celebration received 26% of the vote and walked away with £300.07
March 2018 – Stockton SOUP #10
1st Project – In Sight & Borderland Events
Borderland and In Sight are a girls and guys conference running in Stockton-on-Tees. They aim to provide an opportunity for young people age 11- 18 to spend time in a safe, caring environment where they can be themselves and feel valued for who they are. There will be a variety of activities during the day including inspirational speakers (with a focus on challenging injustice and connecting with your community), workshops and advice on healthy relationships, as well as sports, games and a quiet space to just take time out.
They will use the money from SOUP to provide the conference and a lunch free of charge for anyone attending.
The Borderland and Insight Events received 12% of the vote and £127.55
for more information visit www.facebook.com/TVYFC or www.tvyfc.co.uk
2nd Project – Period Poverty (Free Period)
On the Blob, decorators in, time of the month…. whatever you call it, for some women periods can be more than just an inconvenience due to struggling to afford sanitary products. Free Periods aim to change this and eliminate Period Poverty.
Free periods is a campaign for the introduction of an ‘S card’ (Sanitary Products Card). So women and girls who cannot afford to buy sanitary protection can access free products 24/7 through pharmacies. They believe all women should be able to access products without fuss or embarrassment.
Research carried out by Plan International found that 1:10 girls and women between the aged 14-21 years struggle to afford sanitary protection. The survey found that a period costs a family of one Mum and two teenage daughters the average of £5.40 per month. There may well be the additional costs of painkillers and clean knickers. The survey found women and girls are staying home and missing work, school and education because they cannot afford their period.
Free Periods will use the money to raise awareness of the scheme and also break down the taboo of talking about periods and feeling comfortable with for asking and accessing help.
Free Periods received 21% of the vote and walked away with £221.09
for more information visit Free Period or email: Freeperiodcampaign@gmail.com
3rd Project – Positive Voice Tees Valley
When you left school at the age of 16 / 18 you had hopes and dreams. The dream job, the family, the car…. Everyone wants to be ‘successful’. No one plans to be a prostitute, an alcoholic, homeless or unemployable. Sadly through bad choices and circumstances, this is where some people have found themselves. Positive Voice wants to create opportunities for people to discover their ‘lightbulb moment’; I am better than this. I am valued and I can do anything I want, if I put my mind to it.
Positive Voice will be a Community Hub based in the heart of Stockton where anyone is welcome. Through community online radio, training opportunities and partnering with other local organisations, they want to resource, enhance and empower the young, unemployed and disadvantaged in Stockton On Tees and the surrounding areas. They hope that every person they come into contact with can discover their own unique value and see their true potential.
Positive Voice are also building a website and App where people who find themselves in difficult situations can reach out to and receive help, support, and signposting the relevant local organisations.
The money from SOUP will be used to help with set up costs.
Positive Voice received 30% of the vote and walked away with £314.62
www.facebook.com/positivevoicetv or www.positivevoiceteesvalley.co.uk
4th Project – The JK Club
Last project from Wednesday’s Stockton SOUP – The JK Club
‘If you have a disability, there’s a lot of things out there when you’re young. But when you come to adulthood there’s nothing there for you’
Set up by two passionate mums, The JK Club is an inclusive Friday night social event for adults with disabilities. The aims of the club are to provide an age-appropriate social space for over 18s that helps foster independence. Often young adults with disabilities can find themselves in social settings with children as young as 8 years old.
The JK Club is held at the Ragworth community centre every Friday from 5.30pm-8.30pm and is open to anyone 18 years or over with any disability. Entrance is £2 and carers and parents come free. A bit like SOUP, every penny taken on the door goes back into making the club happen!
The money raised at Stockton SOUP will be used to put in a ramp allowing access to the outside for motorised wheelchair users.
The JK club received 36% of the vote and walked away with £374.14
For more information visit www.facebook.com/jkclubthornaby
January 2018 – Stockton SOUP #9
1st Project – Parents and friends association of Ash Trees Academy
Ash Trees Academy is a primary school based in Billingham. The Academy currently caters for 154 pupils who experience severe learning difficulties which includes profound and complex medical needs and young people with Autism. Run mostly by passionate and committed Mums and Dad’s the parents and friends association of Ash Trees Academy, do their best to raise funds for much needed equipment for the school. Like every parent, the members of this group want to give their children the best start they can, but this can be significantly harder (and more expensive) due to their children’s additional needs. Many of the children at the school are wheel chair users, some are non verbal, others on the autistic spectrum. Sadly, some children also have life limiting conditions which mean they may not even make it to the end of their education.
The money raised at Stockton SOUP is going towards specialist equipment that will help enable these children to engage more with the world around them and live richer, fuller lives.
For more info contact us or email them directly
Shamaine Brant – Chair
Alison Hardy – Treasurer
Clare Iverson – Secretary
On Ashtreespfa1@gmail.com
They received 27% of the vote and £205.33
2nd Project – DRAKE – The Bookshop
This wonderful independent bookshop based in Sliver Street in Stockton, want to make every child in Stockton a super hero! Lets explain. At a recent young readers group in the shop the children (in response to the book they were reading) were discussing which super powers they would like. Invisibility, power to fly, super strength…you can imagine the answers. Then one girl said ‘none, I don’t need super powers as I open a book and go to a new world!’ What an answer! Imagine if we could give every child in Stockton that ability!
Drake The Bookshop want to bring more authors to Stockton’s schools, particularly schools in poorer areas, in order to instil a love of reading and boost a creative spark. Once the authors are here they will conduct assemblies and workshops with groups of pupils. Not only will the authors help them with their literacy skills, but also inspire them to write themselves. In turn, Drake’s would like to provide the school with a free class set of the author’s most recent title so they can further discover all about the author. Since the borough of Stockton has a very wide economic make up it is perfectly possible to always send authors to private schools or schools in more affluent areas; however, Drake’s want to support, help and share the love of reading with ALL areas of Stockton.
They received 24% of the vote and £188.22
3rd Project – New Beginnings
Craig is passionate about helping vulnerable people on the streets of Stockton. His passion for New Beginnings was fuelled after one interaction with a homeless man when he was greeted in an aggressive manner, instead of responding in anger Craig was filled with compassion as the face of his own son came to mind. Craig’s mission is to treat every person he comes across with the kindness and love he would show his own son if he was in that position.
New Beginnings work on the streets of Stockton building relationships with those in poverty in all its forms. With their van, they offer practical support such as a hot meal and warm clothes to people on the street. Even more they offer friendship and support, helping people access the help they need and walking with them throughout the journey where possible. The heart of Craig and the team is to restore people from addictions and reunite them with their families.
They received 24% of the vote and £188.22
4th Project – Norton Food Bank
Imagine having to live off of a single tin of beans for a week? Unfortunately, that is the reality for many people in our area. Norton Food Bank do not believe anyone in their community should have to face going hungry, and we agree.
Foodbanks provide emergency food for people and families across the UK. Between April and September last year over half a million food packs were given to people in crisis throughout the UK by Trussell Trust foodbanks, and 208,956 of those packs were given to children. Stockton and Billingham Foodbank work tirelessly across our community. As well as the larger centres they have several smaller collection points across our area. One area that is currently lacking a foodbank is Norton. The money raised at SOUP will help establish this new foodbank (under Stockton and Billingham). Not only do they need practical things like a fridge and shelving, but they also need people to help run it. A foodbank can offer much more that practical support; it can also extend friendship, community and signposting to appropriate support. Contact us for more info or if you could help.
They received 24% of the vote and £188.22
November 2017 – Stockton SOUP #8
Project 1 – ‘Our House’
In the past year, 330 have been killed worldwide because of being trans. In the UK many trans people live in fear or isolation, face hate crimes and often they can find themselves homeless due to not being fully accepted by their family and friends.
Trans Aware in partnership with The Student Living Company seeks to do something about this with the “Our House” project.
Based in the heart of Stockton-on-Tees they established a community residential safe space for trans people who are at risk. Our House is a much need safe space and home to those in need – with the added security of a project officer from Trans Aware that lives on site. Young people can use this as a stepping stone on their journey towards independence and older people who are living in isolation are able to enjoy the community. This amazing space is a refuge to many and removes the stress of having to exist with the constant questioning about their identity that is often faced by those living or coming out as trans and fears over security. A space for people to be free to be themselves.
Trans Aware got 22% of the vote and walked away with £155.39
Project 2 – Theatre for every child
This project is aiming to give every 5 year old in Stockton the chance to experience live theatre at ARC, which for most children will be their very first trip to the theatre. At the moment they prioritise the most disadvantaged children but hopefully, as it progresses, the they will benefit all five year olds across the borough.
The thrill of a live theatre show should not be restricted to just those who can afford it. Theatre for every child seeks to reverse the decline in theatre attendance to engage and impassion a new generation with the joy of the arts.
If you would like more information about how you or your business can become an Every Child Campaign supporter, please contact:
Gill Adams,
Every Child Campaign Manager, ARC Stockton.
Tel 01642 525199
Email: gill.adams@arconline.co.uk
Theatre for every child received 11% of the vote and £81.78
Project 3 – Somewhere Else
Set up to address the impact of isolation and loneliness on people’s health outcomes. The aim of Somewhere Else is to combat loneliness, encourage a sense of belonging and increase self-worth. As part of their role, Somewhere else work with asylum seekers that have often been traumatised. Many of them also have children that have been deeply affected by what has happened to them. Trauma, left untreated can be debilitating and impacts upon development, self-esteem and worth. It affects attachment, the building of relationships and perpetuates the difficulties associated with being lonely and socially isolated.
Somewhere Else are seeking to use the money from SOUP to create a safe, welcoming and dedicated space for these children where therapists can work with them. Somewhere Else are committed to providing the right facilities, support and therapy to enable the children to engage in the trauma work necessary to allow them to live happier and more functional lives for more information visit https://facebook.com/SomewhereElseStockton/
Somewhere else received 43% of the vote and £302.60
Project 4 – The Auxiliary
The Auxiliary (an artist-led initiative in central Stockton) started a small vegetable garden at the front of the project’s base last year. They saw it as a great way to generate food for their project, but also help them connect with their neighbours. But from there it grew!
They are based on a diverse and multi-cultural residential street, but no matter who the person, what language they spoke or their walk of life they stopped! They look, ask questions and sometimes just tell stories: about the time their father had an allotment, or the type of spinach they grow in their own garden, or what they would grow, if they had a garden. As Liam said on the night, this project may not change the world – but it is changing this street! This project matters because it is bringing a community together, making people smile and building connections. It gives a sense of pride to the street.
With the funding from SOUP they are expanding into other gardens on the street and are hoping to start a community garden. Anyone who wants can be involved and will have a say in what’s grown. Everyone gets to share the spoils, too, and they might even have a street party next summer to eat everything that they’ve grown together.
The Auxiliary received 24% of the vote and £171.75